Also, I'm convinced that what John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer thought THEY were doing was normal.
meh... I suspect they despised "normal," and thought they were "superior."
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Thats neurotic sociopathy. Maybe applies to only one of the three mentioned.
...and in cases of average sociopathy or psychopathic action, the OP would likely be correct.
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But if they thought their behavior was "normal," wouldn't they also be telling themselves, "There's nothing unusual about my behavior because everyone does this?" It seems more likely that they recognized their behavior as "unusual" while having (in their minds) justification for it.
This is all academic, of course. There's no way for us to know exactly what is in a person's heart and/or mind. Even so, an intellectual exploration such as this may prove useful.
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if you have to tell yourself you are normal, you arent, besides, if theres something severely wrong with you on a psychological level, you simply dont know - you do not question it. so no, your statement is poo.
think of it this way:
2+2=3 to a psychopath and theyre fine with it, because it makes sense.
2+2=4 to a neurotic, and they hate that fact.
2+2=winning to a sociopath.
none of those character types questions their result, nor why they see things in such a way.
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if you have to tell yourself you are normal, you arent,
besides, if theres something severely wrong with you on a psychological level, you simply dont know - you do not question it
You seem to be saying that "normal" people don't question their normality...and neither do psychopaths. That would seem to indicate that only "abnormal" people ever wonder if they are normal. If that was truly the point you were trying to make, it flies in the face of available evidence. (See the Yale article included in the OP, for starters.)
I am purposely skipping the pointless insult you included as it has no place in an intellectual discussion. Instead, let us return to the second part of what you said.
none of those character types questions their result, nor why they see things in such a way.
...which is another way of saying, "There's nothing unusual about my behavior because everyone does this." The behavior is seen as expected and ordinary. Such a delusion can continue as long as there is nothing to contradict it, but when reality intrudes and there is a discrepancy in appearances, cognitive dissonance is created. That dissonance may be explained away or ignored, but it is there. When you fail to notice other people burying bodies on their property, you have three options.
- Accept that other people aren't doing what you're doing. (Contradiction)
- Refuse to think about how other people aren't doing what you're doing. (Self-Deception)
- Come up with an explanation for your failure to notice other people doing what you're doing. (Dismissal)
The first option leads to questioning one's own actions (something you previously rejected out of hand). The second option is more in line with what you posited, that of "not knowing" while actually having knowledge, but it requires a disconnect from reality. The third option accomplishes what the second does, but without requiring a disconnect. It is therefore a simpler and easier path for the mind to take, which is why it is the preferred response to cognitive dissonance for most people in most situations..
Please note that I am not claiming to know which of the above situations applied to anyone in particular at any given time. I am not a mind-reader. Rather, I posited the option of dismissal as a possibility, and I did so as it is the most common resolution to cognitive dissonance. The entirety of this reply is a response to your second reply and is removed from the OP.
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I agree that Dahmer is probably a bad example for superiority complex. Wasn't he the one who lured young, mostly homeless or drug addicted men into his home, had sex with them and killed them afterwards ?
Seems more like a case of somebody unable to deal with his urges in a healthy way rather than superiority complex.
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Thinking you're normal doesn't make you normal. In fact, if you truly believe you are objectively normal then you're probably either very stupid or quite insane.
There's a reason "normal" people are despised by superiors (simply acknowledging that one is, in fact, not normal makes one superior by definition given that one then by default understand the world better than one who believe himself to be normal...it's not like it takes much to be better than "normal" people)
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Wrong. Normal is what is bunched around the middle of a normal distribution. That's the definition.
So, normal (and being normal) is very much real. Expressed for single observable indicators, of course.
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I'M NORMAL, DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME I'M NOT! I'M THE SANEST BEING OF ALL THE LANDS
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I hate this type of definition games. Psychology isn't about what's normal but about what's abnormal, and therefore that's what should be defined. Saying that there's a large variety of 'normal' behaviours contributes nothing to the discussion. The border cases are the interesting ones.
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NSFW Sums it up: What is the difference between erotic and perverted? Erotic is when you tickle a woman with a feather until orgasm. Perverted is when the chicken is still attached to it!
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Nobody is normal.
Goes to show what I've been saying for years. Define normal when it comes to humanity.
Also, I'm convinced that what John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer thought THEY were doing was normal.
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